HALFTIME TALK RALLIES LITTLEROCK.

Byline: Bryan Winchell and Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff

It was the pep talk at halftime that did it for his team, trailing 20-6 against undefeated Valencia High School, Littlerock High coach Jim Bauer said Monday.

Bauer wouldn't reveal the details of his talk, other than to say he addressed his players' ``manhood.''

The Lobos came back to beat the Vikings 30-28.

Littlerock (5-1) started the second half with a seven-play, 64-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 20-14.

With starting quarterback Myles Meeden out with a knee injury, tailback Devon Reese started at quarterback and back-up tailback Michael Woods did the majority of the running. Littlerock completed none of its six pass attempts.

Woods carried the ball 33 times (20 after halftime) for 197 yards and two touchdowns, including a 42-yard run in the first quarter that set up a 12-yard score on the next play.

When Woods needed relief, though, junior David Newton stepped in and rushed for 106 yards in 10 carries, including touchdown runs of 34 and 19 yards. His 19-yard run in the fourth quarter capped a 10-play, 53-yard drive that took off just under five minutes of the clock and gave Littlerock a 30-20 lead.

``A lot of people were pleasantly surprised,'' said Valencia coach Brian Stiman. ``Most people at the game were confident we could have won the game.''

Will this performance quiet those who think Valencia hasn't played anyone of note?

``It might have put some of the critics to rest, but you and I know two of the most criticized positions are the president and coaches,'' Stiman said.

A look at other games:

Hart 24, Loyola 10: Beating the state's third-ranked team was a big accomplishment, but the Indians always had it in them, said coach Mike Herrington.

Compare this victory against losses to Thousand Oaks and Westlake. According to Herrington, those games were winnable. ``Against T.O., we made too many mistakes at the end, and against Westlake, we didn't play real good defense.''

Against Loyola, Hart did both, especially on defensive. Linebacker Todd Hourigan tied a school record with 20 tackles, 15 assisted and five unassisted. He also broke up two passes.

``He was all over the field,'' Herrington said.

Quarterback Travis Carroll passed for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, he played safety in passing situations and made a couple of tackles and prevented Loyola from passing to the receiver he covered.

Palmdale 40, Canyon 12: The Falcons relied on the running of Jason Anderson and Jan Brown and a stifling second-half defense.

Anderson finished with 153 yards on 15 carries and had two touchdowns, while Brown had 122 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns.

It was the Palmdale defense that really got the blowout going. Linebacker Manny Flores celebrated his 18th birthday with a fumble recovery and 13-yard touchdown to make it 21-12 early in the third quarter.

And the defense shut down Canyon quarterback Rick Thomas, who completed just three of 12 passes for 46 yards in the second half after completing 11 of 15 for 124 yards in the first half.

``We were really motivated coming out of the locker room at halftime,'' said Palmdale coach Jeff Williams. ``We knew we could play a lot better.''

Canyon coach Larry Mohr has been having problems sleeping. With the start of Foothill League play this weekend, this is no time for the Cowboys to go into a funk. But they've lost two in a row and find themselves 2-3.

``I can't hide the fact we didn't play well. I don't know why,'' Mohr said after the team fumbled three times and gave up in the third quarter. ``With league beginning, it's not a good time.''

It also didn't help that running back Monte McKeon hurt his ankle in the game. But with Hart around the corner Friday, Mohr expects McKeon to find a way to get himself ready.

Saugus 28, Pasadena 18: The Centurions did not have as much trouble stopping a fast team as it did in games against Palmdale, Quartz Hill and Loyola.

The reason, said coach Jack Bowman, was the defense was more aggressive.

``We went through a malaise for a while, but the kids were aggressive,'' he said. ``The kids hit hard.''

Travis Ivey also had a good game in his first start, passing for 113 yards on 4 of 15 passing. Ivey is in for Chris Kobe, who hurt his knee against Quartz Hill. Bowman said Kobe will miss the next two games, leaving Ivey with two more starts.

``He'll get a lot better,'' Bowman said.

Highland 24, Burroughs (Ridgecrest) 22: Entering the season, it was two-time All-Golden League safety Marcus Prevost who got most of the attention for the Bulldogs (4-2).

But after this win, it's becoming more apparent that Will Demps is a player to be noticed. Demps scored on a 4-yard pass reception and returned an interception 20 yards for a score.

Demps now has six interceptions and 12 touchdowns.

``I tell the recruiters as much as you're interested in Prevost, we've got a guy next to him who's a Division I player,'' Highland coach Lin Parker said of Demps, who plays running back and strong safety.

Demps finished Friday's game with five receptions for 61 yards and eight carries for 71 yards.

In other games, Antelope Valley defeated Long Beach Poly, 13-7, Quartz Hill beat Apple Valley, 7-0, Boron upended Desert, 62-13, and Paraclete fell to Santa Paula 20-18, though running back Dominic Washington had 234 yards in 27 carries.